Bank boss quits after porn found on PC

The head of the Bank of Ireland has resigned after it was discovered he used his work PC to access pornographic websites.

Michael Soden's surfing habits were discovered during routine maintenance work on his PC by IT staff. The details were leaked to the Irish press, forcing the bank to go public on the matter.

Soden issued a personal statement announcing his resignation as Group CEO on the Bank of Ireland's website on Friday.

"I have taken this decision for personal reasons. This arises from access by me on my PC to internet sites that contain content that infringed the Group's policy on these matters," he said. "The content accessed was not illegal but did contain links to material of an adult nature. I now accept that accessing this material was inappropriate and would cause embarrassment to Bank of Ireland and to the people who work there."

The bank's board said it accepted Soden's resignation with regret and will make an announcement on his successor this week.